The curious onlookers marveled at the torn guard rail and the shattered pine trees this afternoon. Some had trouble even seeing the battered SUV among the foliage, but all were surprised the 19-year-old driver in the one-vehicle crash in Port Sheldon Township was alive.

“It’s a miracle,” said one man standing on Lakeshore Avenue where Croswell Street intersects in a “T.”

Javier Tinoco of Holland Township was extricated from his 2003 Toyota and taken to Holland Hospital after the 2:15 p.m. crash with head and leg injuries, according to the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office.

“He was alert and conscious when he was taken” by ambulance to Holland Hospital, said Sgt. Valerie Weiss at the scene.

He was in serious condition later in the afternoon.

Tinoco was driving west on Croswell Street and failed to stop at the stop sign at Lakeshore Avenue, police said. His vehicle crossed Lakeshore, went through the metal guardrail, pulling out a large directional arrow sign and just missing a telephone pole before soaring through the air, down an embankment and over a tall chainlink fence with barbed wire on top. The vehicle turned 180 degrees before coming to rest on the ground in the pine trees on the property of the Consumers Energy J.H. Campbell Generating Complex.

Police did not have an estimate of how fast Tinoco’s vehicle was traveling. No skid marks were visible on the pavement.

Emergency crews could not enter the crash scene from Croswell Street due to the steep embankment and tall fence, so vehicles had to use a gated entry on Consumers property. They parked near five sets of railroad tracks used to bring coal to the facility.

Police do not know if Tinoco was wearing a seatbelt.

Port Sheldon Fire Department and North Ottawa Ambulance assisted at the scene.